Use Notifications on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

From app alerts to information about your day, notifications keep you up to date so you never miss a thing.

Use Notification Center

Notification Center shows your most recent alerts, like a calendar event or a missed call.

To view Notification Center, swipe down from the top of any screen, including the Lock Screen. Tap an alert in Notification Center to open it. Or tap to clear the alert.

If you have an iPhone 6s or later, you can use 3D Touch to respond to a notification in Notification Center. Press deeply on the notification to respond. You can also use 3D Touch to clear your notifications. Just press deeply on the , then tap Clear All Notifications.

Notifications on your Lock screen

In iOS 10, you can interact with notifications on the Lock screen to catch up on news, respond to messages, and more without unlocking your device.

Here are some ways you can view and interact with notifications from the Lock screen:

To view your lock screen, press the Home button or Sleep/Wake button. If you have an iPhone 6s or later, lift your device to see the Lock screen.

To respond to a notification, swipe left over it, then tap respond. If you have an iPhone 6s or later, you can use 3D Touch. Just press deeply on the notification, then respond.

To open the app to respond, swipe right over the notification.

Change alert styles and settings for notifications

Customize your notifications with different alert styles so you can act quickly on emails, calendar invites, messages, and more. To add or change an alert style for a notification, go to Settings > Notifications and select an app.

Notifications from apps can have these alerts styles:

Banners: Banner alerts appear at the top of the screen and go away automatically. To reply, swipe down on the banner or swipe up to dismiss it. If you have an iPhone 6s or later, you can respond to a banner alert with 3D Touch. Just press deeply on a banner alert to respond.

Alerts: With Alerts, you need to act before you can move on. Depending on the app, you can dismiss the alert or reply to it.

Badges: A Badge is the red number that appears on an app icon and shows you how many notifications you have for that app.

Sounds: Have an app play a sound to alert you when you receive a notification.

If you don't want these type of alerts, you can turn them off. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and tap an app to turn on or off alerts based on your location. Learn more about Location Services.

If you don't see notifications for a specific app

To get notifications, connect to a Wi-Fi or cellular network. If you don't get notifications for a specific app, try these steps:

Make sure that the app supports notifications. Go to Settings > Notifications, select the app, and make sure that Notifications are turned on.

If you have notifications turned on for an app but you're not receiving alerts, the alert style might be set to None. Go to Settings > Notifications and check that your Alert Style is set to Banners or Alerts.

Make sure that you’re signed in to your Apple ID. Go to Settings > iTunes & App Stores and enter your Apple ID and password.

Make sure that Do Not Disturb is turned off. Go to Settings > Do Not Disturb and tap Manual if it's turned on.

If you’ve recently installed an app or restored from a backup, open the app to start getting notifications.

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